The Story of Us
by NewRageInc
Summary: Mature content later. 'She couldn't help notice how much tension he was holding in his jaw and didn't notice that she was staring until he cleared his throat. "It's a little packed in here, I hope you don't mind if I sat with you..." Sasuke.x.Hinata R


"_All I can say is I was enchanted to meet you." – Taylor Swift, Enchanted_

_I do not own Naruto_

**An Introduction**

The steady beat of rain against the glass was soothing, relaxing, as Hinata tried winding down from a hard and long day of work. She sighed contentedly, slouching further into her seat as she allowed the stress to roll out of her with each soft rumble of thunder. She watched as a gust of wind caused the skinny trees along the sidewalk to sway uncertainly in the storm. When she had moved to the city, she never expected to become what she had become.

She supposed her father had warned her, in a way, that leaving the family to pursue her dreams would be a mistake. The only problem with this was her inability to truly believe she had done just that. Made a mistake. Steam hovered over her coffee mug and she traced an idle pinky over the rim, losing herself in the reflections of where her life had gone.

She had left home to chase after a boy, who would be a man now, abandoning everything she held close to her and having to start from scratch without the support she should have received from her family. She had told her father that this boy was the farthest from her thoughts when she made the decision, an obvious lie that he saw right through.

"_You can teach here, what's so special about a big city? You would do well, better even, if you would reason with yourself and not get into silly fantasies that will _not_ happen." _

He had spoken so coldly back then and, even know, when she called home, there was that slight edge to his tone that said more than his actual words.

Hinata did her best to hide her displeasure at his being mostly right, at her disappointment of how everything turned out in the end, but it was still there. There was always that nagging tug at the back of her mind when the little boy in her kindergarten class with those electrifying green eyes and shock of blond hair would have to be reprimanded by her gentle hand.

"Excuse me miss…" Hinata blinked away her daze, back suddenly straight as she became aware of a pair of dark eyes looking down at her. She couldn't help notice how much tension he was holding in his jaw and didn't notice that she was staring until he cleared his throat. "It's a little packed in here, I hope you don't mind if I sat with you. I only want a cup of coffee."

Pale eyes widened in surprise as she looked around the little café that, sure enough, was very full of people. Her cheeks reddened as she nodded her consent and vaguely gestured towards the vacant seat before her. She had been positive the place had been like a ghost town when she arrived, when had all these people walked in?

She turned towards the window, watching as water slid down the glass and trying not to tune in to this strange man's deep tenor as he told the waitress what he wanted and dismissed her with a sour hiss as he finished. Hinata cringed and wondered if it would be rude to just leave but she soon squelched the thought, she was going to enjoy her coffee and wind down properly before having to go back to her small apartment and prepare for the next day. There should be no need for her to feel awkward, this man just wanted a place to sit for a while as he drank his own drink. He would, most likely, not look back or speak to her and she was just fine with that.

"That is quite an unusual color." Hinata shook her head, only then realizing that she had gone off in some sort of daze.

"E-excuse me?" The man before her cleared his throat, dark eyes looking directly in to hers. She felt the heat start to rise on the back of her neck, not used to the intensity of his gaze as he continued on.

"Your eyes, I meant. They're a very unusual color, I've never seen anything like it…" He cleared his throat again, breaking the contact and looking slightly sheepish for having admitted to looking at her.

"A-ano, everyone in my family has the same color of eyes." She smiled at her coffee, unsure of the person before her now more than ever. He did not seem the type to start up a conversation as he had, now she wondered if he would keep it going.

"Oh? Your name, if I may ask?"

"Hyuuga, Hinata. Y-yours?"

"Uchiha, Sasuke." Hinata's brows raised slightly as she finally found the courage to actually _look_ at Sasuke. His hair was a dark mass on top of his head, eyes sharp, nose straight, strong chin and she found it hard keeping herself from nibbling her bottom lip in anxiety when she noticed a few of the women around him turning around to get a look at him.

"The same Uchiha from the company that makes all those weapons?" Her voice was quiet as she sipped at her coffee, the rain still falling rhythmically against the glass of the café.

"Hai, but I do not associate myself with them." There was a slight edge to his voice that surprised her even further.

'_Who is this person?'_

"Hyuuga is a powerful name as well." Hinata flinched at these words.

"Hai, but just as you, I do not... associate myself with them. I'm just a school teacher, is all."

"And I'm just a police officer." Sasuke shrugged, eyes scanning the pedestrians huddled under umbrellas and scurrying to get out of the rain. He found he couldn't keep his sight away from this woman for long. He had never been awed by someone before, but as soon as she had first spoken to answer his question about joining her, his curiosity was piqued.

The color of her eyes was the first thing he could think of to speak, the weather seemed like such a tired subject, and his mouth felt dry when he watched her eyes come back to focus. They became brighter, if possible, and a slight redness began crawling up the back of her neck. He had embarrassed her, he had to fight back the smirk that wanted to break his careful mask.

"Police. That sounds… dangerous."

"Teacher sounds sweet." Sasuke watched in amusement as her back went ramrod straight. "What do you teach?"

"I teach at a pre-school close by here, a kindergarten class." Hinata found herself nervously tugging at the hem of her sweater. Was this man _flirting _with her? No he couldn't be, she felt conceited just by thinking this. There were many women sitting at full tables, many who were more beautiful than she, he only sat there because it was the only choice.

"Now that really sounds sweet, adorable… actually." Sasuke leaned forward on the table. "Please don't think this forward of me, but I've had a long day and I wouldn't mind listening to you talk as opposed to going back to my empty apartment and trying to keep a conversation with my cat. Could you do that for me?"

The heat that had started at the back of her neck was now sprawled across her face, cheeks taking on a rosiness that Sasuke found hard not to smirk at. She worked over his words.

'_An empty apartment… with a cat? My cat ran away almost as soon as I got him…_'

"That's fine, I-I'm not busy."

She talked. Softly, stuttering often and blushing more furiously than she had in quite some time. She spoke of the children, the way they spoke, how they laughed, smiled, and how much she enjoyed being with them for the better part of the day. Hinata could not look at Sasuke as he patiently listened to her, nodding every now and then and even allowing himself the slightest twitch of a smile when she spoke of a student who had drawn her a picture out of the jelly of his sandwich.

She talked on until darkness had settled, neither of them noticing that one by one, the patrons that had caused the café to be so crowded at first had walked already walked out.

"A-ano… It's late." She pulled up her sleeve and tapped at her watch, she had to prepare for her class tomorrow. "It was nice talking to you, Uchiha-san. Good luck with… Everything." Hinata struggled with her coat, fidgeting with her bag while trying to reach for her umbrella. She was still nervous and could not believe she had just spent the better part of her evening talking about her life with a complete stranger. When her bag started slipping out of her grasp, Sasuke was at her side, helping to put the strap on her shoulder before stepping away from her, running a hand through his hair.

He wanted to say something to her, give her his phone number, ask to see her again. He, surprisingly, wanted to talk to this person again. This amazing, kind hearted woman with the hint of sorrow in her smile and her quiet disposition that made him feel his stomach flip and his heart clench in his chest. Sasuke swallowed his pride.

"Could I see you again?" There was that blush again, Hinata wrung her hands.

"I-I… Would not mind that." She shuffled through her belongings before pulling out a notepad and scribbled her phone number and her name at the bottom, face still enflamed and her hands shook when she handed him the slip. She ducked her head, mumbling her farewell before disappearing in to the night, not giving him time to offer to hail a cab for her.

He studied the neat scrawl across the paper.

'_Hinata…'_

Back in his apartment, Sasuke replayed the evening over and over in his mind. The cat that he never bothered to name curled up next to him on the couch, purring contentedly at his master's side, wondering what this man could possibly be contemplating this time.

'_Her hair is so long…'_

Sasuke had only thought of one woman to be truly amazing, he had convinced himself long ago that he would never find anyone as incredible as her, but now he doubted his resolve. Hyuuga Hinata was an intriguing creature, he had to admit, listening to her talk made him believe that if he decided to keep seeing her, she would have him wrapped around her slender finger in no time. He shook his head forcefully at that.

'_I'm getting ahead of myself.'_ He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out that beautiful piece of paper she had handed to him. He hadn't bothered with dating, not after what had happened to him, he swore off women, simple as that. On rare occasions, on those particularly lonely nights when he sought comfort from the bottle, he would sit at a bar and more often than not, he found himself prey to one of the many vixens prowling the area.

On those hazy nights, hypnotized by sultry glances from under sooty lashes and the loving purrs murmured into his ear, he would drink until he could convince himself that he would prefer not to go to bed alone that night. Those nights he would take those faceless women with long hair home and fuck them senseless.

There was no other way to explain it, no way he could lie to himself and flower those nights up in his memory. They were what they were and he only regretted bringing them over when he noticed them gone in the morning.

He stared at the crinkling paper, recalling how her face had lit up when he had asked about the children she worked with and when she stumbled over words when she noticed how intensely he watched her. She certainly was not the type of woman he had spoken to as of late, she was unlike _anyone_ he had ever taken the time to talk to. Sasuke sagged on the couch, listening to the sound of his cat and the ticking of a clock in the distance.

He thought of a time when this apartment was not as empty as it was now, thought of when he wouldn't drink, of a happier time. A warm smile, a sparkling eye, silky hair, bright colors and sweet smells of a _home_. An actual home, one that he used to look forward to coming back to, one that he would actually _hurry_ back to after work. After what had happened, he never felt the same about _'home'_ and now he felt like he needed to drink himself into a stupor. But it was Wednesday, he had to work in the morning.

Instead, he thought of that soft voice, talking about finger painting and singing the ABCs with a room full of four year olds. He never thought hearing about such a thing could be anything _but_ annoying until he heard them from that girl's mouth.

'_Hinata…'_

The last thought he had was that of calling her later, if time permitted.

* * *

Hinata looked down at her kitchen table, fussing with the stack of her careful notes she had prepared for the next day of class, a second stack next to it with the puzzle her students had worked on that very morning. She sighed, sitting back and looking around her spotless kitchen.

'_Uchiha Sasuke…'_ If her father found out about this encounter, she would be getting an ear full of how she should have never given him her phone number. She smiled at herself. Hinata pushed herself away from the table, stretching languidly, slender arms reaching for the ceiling before she turned on her heel to head off to bed.

'_Uchiha Sasuke… It certainly was a pleasure to meet you.'_

_

* * *

_

_Err, _

_It's not a one-shot. I know, I shouldn't but I couldn't help it. My mind is elsewhere (no where near the Naruverse) so I can't continue See and Believe Again until the summer where I can sit and really think about what's going on. Shattered is even more difficult because I know how to end it, am excited for the end actually, but I need other stuff in the middle! (: Oh well, I should go do my research._

_Leave ma a little… I don't know. You know._

_NewRageInc._


End file.
